Crescent Ridge shows little change years after tornado

Sunday

Mar 24, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The people who live on and along Crescent Ridge Road in Holt have watched much of the community rebound and thrive after the April 27, 2011, tornado. The same can’t be said for the residential area in between these Holt landmarks. Homes that have been repaired or rebuilt scatter the stark landscape, but the once-dense community has an atmosphere of abandonment and neglect, residents say.

By Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer

The people who live on and along Crescent Ridge Road in Holt have watched much of the community rebound and thrive after the April 27, 2011, tornado.On Friday, Brown’s Nursery was filled with spring plants and flowers. Down the street, kids at Holt Elementary were no doubt antsy as they soldiered through their last day before spring break. Customers were in and out of The Lucky Dollar, a convenience store that recently reopened with an upgraded brick facade and modern look.The same can’t be said for the residential area in between these Holt landmarks. Homes that have been repaired or rebuilt scatter the stark landscape, but the once-dense community has an atmosphere of abandonment and neglect, residents say.That’s because of the approximately two dozen boarded-up and falling-down houses that don’t look much different than when the sun set on April 27, 2011. The homes aren’t owned by people who can’t afford or chose not to make repairs. They’ve been owned by taxpayers since the Alabama Department of Transportation spent nearly $4 million to buy them to make way for a proposed highway to connect Interstate 20/59 to U.S. Highway 82 in Northport. Many residents question why they’re still standing, nearly two years after the storm.“It looks like a war zone,” said Holt resident John Wathen, a longtime vocal opponent of the bypass and, as Hurricane Creekkeeper, an advocate for the protection, preservation and restoration of the Hurricane Creek watershed. “We deserve better.”The department began making offers for the properties in summer 2011 and completed the last purchase in fall 2012.ALDOT Fifth Division Chief Engineer David Kemp said that non-structural debris has been removed from the area and that plans have been made to demolish the structures this spring.Trees still lie across holes they tore in roofs. Stray dogs, puppies and a colony of cats have made homes in the damaged structures, and residents suspect a few people have, too. Wathen said that he has been inside a home where he saw mattresses made up with sheets, surrounded by empty beer and prescription bottles, books and clothing.ALDOT bought 62 tracts of land which contain approximately 25 partial structures because they are in the right-of-way of the proposed eastern bypass. The four-lane divided highway to connect Interstate 20/59 near Coaling and Cottondale to U.S. 82 on the north side of the Black Warrior River was first proposed in 1988 and now carries an estimated $250 million price tag. There is no set date for the bypass construction because of uncertain funding, Kemp said.ALDOT bought the properties with permission of the Federal Highway Administration from owners who were willing to sell, he said.“ALDOT has been maintaining property and making weekly inspection throughout the acquisition process,” Kemp wrote in an email to The Tuscaloosa News. “Structures have been secured and maintenance forces have removed non-structural debris from the area. ALDOT is required to use federal guidelines in plan preparation and bid advertisement. Plans are complete and bid documents [for demolition contracts] are prepared for advertisement at this time.”Kevin Skelton, his wife and teenage son rebuilt their damaged home just off Crescent Ridge, next door to where his wife grew up. He said that he first saw signs posted by ALDOT advertising offers through the government’s hardship acquisition program when his family returned to their house three days after the tornado.The family declined ALDOT’s offer.“We didn’t take the offer because it would have put us in a worse position financially,” he said. The house next door to his and the mobile home next to that still have trees on the roofs. From his front yard, he can see several uninhabited homes, including one that is leaning to the side and has an open roof. Beer bottles and fast food bags litter many of the yards. He said he fears that curious children could be injured if they wander into one of the houses. “If they would just get this cleaned up, it would look a lot better for the people who stayed,” he said. “You get used to it, knowing that you can’t do anything about it. We’ve called to complain, and have been led on that something is going to happen soon, but nothing does. They’re evasive and have never given us an actual date. It’s frustrating that the highway department won’t do what they need to do, but they just won’t do it.”Wathen, who has criticized ALDOT for years regarding the bypass, believes that the department has left the houses in disrepair to devalue the property. “It is my opinion that that is exactly what is happening here. That they’re driving property values down to force people to sell.” he said. “There are some new houses that have been built near Keene Drive and Sixth Street, but nobody new is going to come to our community as long as ALDOT is allowed to degrade it like this.”Lucky Dollar owner Mike Bennett, echoed Skelton and Wathen when he brought up the issue of safety.“We’ve got an elementary school less than a quarter mile away,” he said. “It’s also a health concern. You’ve got these houses with the roofs open and rain water getting in. There’s no telling what kind of mold or mildew is in there. There are probably rats running around.”Bennett recently reopened the store and is planning an official grand reopening soon. “Other than myself, I don’t know of anyone who wants to locate a business somewhere that’s half blown-down like this. It’s detrimental for the economic development around here.”He said he was glad to learn that ALDOT has planned to demolish the structures in upcoming months.